Special Reports

Dharna by WPI against price hike at Jantar Mantar

The Milli Gazette

Published Online: Sep 17, 2013

Print Issue: 16-30 September 2013

New Delhi; Welfare Party of India strongly urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to revise and redraft the economic policy pursued by UPA and demanded to make it humane, free from local and foreign corporate pressures and make people-friendly.

The party organised a dharna at the Jantar Mantar here on 7 September. It coincided with similoar dharnas by the party in many other states across the country. Party general secretary Dr. S.Q.R. Ilyas observed the country was witnessing an unprecedented economic slowdown. He demanded to make the Public Distribution System (PDS) stronger and to make essential commodities easily available through the PDS as a way to control the price rise. He asked for a special drive against the hoarders and black-marketeers all over the country. He urged the governments to constitute Price Regulatory Authorities at Centre and state levels that would monitor trends in the market, suggest effective and timely steps to control and regulate the prices of commodities.

Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, vice-president of the party said that the Congress-led UPA government has raised the price of petrol products many times in the recent past. Government imposes various kinds of taxes and levies on oil making it highly expensive whereas petroleum products are much cheaper in almost all neighboring countries. He made it clear that every increase in the prices of petroleum products automatically pushed prices up of other commodities and thereby raising the cost of living. He said the price rise is only a symptom; the main reason is the wrong IMF and World Bank-dictated policies which are against the poor who make the majority of Indian citizens. Party secretary Dr. Tasleem Rehmani criticized the Congress-led UPA government for ignoring the farming community and those who live in villages. He said the freedom struggle was not fought to replace white British with black British.

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